I've taken Uber 3 times now in the city. All the drivers shared a common backstory:
- None spoke English.
- All drove cars owned by car companies, who used Uber as their dispatch system.

1) Black Mercedes E-class. Unfortunately the driver decided to park 3 blocks away from my pickup point (when I found him he was having a smoke break... I let him have it), then his GPS guided him to the wrong dropoff point, which I only found out once I got out (right street, just 1.5 miles away).

2) Black Toyota Camry (fully loaded, like a Lexus ES). Good, careful driver.

3) Silver Toyoto Innova (same as the larger 7-pax taxis). Very nice fellow, regular vehicle but clean and no smoke smell.

Advantages of Uber over taxi:
- Lower fares
- On average, nicer, cleaner vehicles
- Charged directly to my US credit card by Uber in USD = no foreign exchange or transaction fees (and this is regardless of country... Uber always charges in USD from SF even though the payment screen is in local currency).

I would absolutely take Uber every time in the city, unless I was in such a rush that I couldn't plan ahead to request an Uber, and the taxi is right in front of me.

One last note about Uber VN: While in other places, calling/texting the driver from your app means a call to a central computer/VoIP system that connects you to whatever driver you have (which means you can save that number to your phone and always call your assigned driver for the current ride), in VN they list the driver's actual cell phone number. Why this important:
- You're calling a local cell phone number, not a US anonymized number.
- The driver will have your actual phone number in their log when you call/text.
- They won't be able to call you if you are still using your foreign number/SIM (or won't want to).